"Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers."

 

 i've been in love with this art ever since i saw it. pretty much obsessed with everything i've seen of caitlin connolly's, for that matter. so beautiful. my heart resonates with this particular painting tonight. 

haven't shared here for a while. usually brain-dumping on the blog is cathartic to me, but i haven't had the words. 

feeling peaceful tonight & wanted to remember.

i've been gently reminded by the spirit today, my ever-increasing need to humble myself before the lord. 

i know that all will be well & just as it should be - 

as i exercise faith in him & his timing.

rejoice, o my heart

myron & i just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last weekend.
that is legit crazy, people.
time certainly appears to fly, when you're mostly having fun! :) 
we had a wonderful, relaxing weekend away to celebrate & it was straight-up amazing.
i am grateful for a marriage relationship that affords me peace & contentment.
i can attest to the work & commitment that brought us here. 

because of this milestone, i've been reflecting on our years together.
the things we've been through.
the pets, the babies, the joys, the trials, the homes, the jobs, the moves, the friendships, the gains, the losses,  the lessons.
LOTS of wonderful, ever-flowing, challenging, beautiful water under our little bridge since 2003.

life.
it ain't perfect.
i'm the first to freely admit it.
there are certainly near-perfect feelings and moments,
but mostly my life thus-far has been a big, fat learning experience. :)
i'm grateful for god-given tender mercies, {such as myron himself}, that i know to be sheer grace, powerfully blessing me in the mist of such learning expiriences.
myron truly is my rock, who i know to not give up on me.

i am continually challenged in both body and spirit daily.
i am challenged to seek sunshine when my brain feels foggy with threat of a storm.
i am challenged to seek forgiveness when my heart feels wronged by another.
i am challenged to seek gratitude in the face of envy.   
i am challenged to seek wisdom when the answer i want isn't coming.
i am challenged to be faithful when i struggle with fearful thoughts.
i am challenged to seek light when darkness and conflict in the world seems too close to home.

sometimes i fail, sometimes i succeed.
and the trick for me, has been learning to be comfortable with the process.
joy in the journey. 

in my adult life,
{which happens to be as long as i've been married}
i have become familiar enough with myself to know what brings me true joy.
my family, my friends & my faith in god.

i have strangely felt joy in my darkest moments, because those are the times i have felt vulnerable and teachable.
i believe that things that i currently consider personal flaws and weaknesses, will someday become my strengths through the healing power of christ's atonement.
i have seen the hand of the lord in my life - a powerful conviction that i cannot deny. 

when i am feeling challenged by this earthly experience,
i often refer to the psalm of nephi in the book of mormon {2nd nephi 4}...
it resonates with my heart so much. i particularly love, verse28:
"awake, my soul! no longer droop in sin. rejoice, o my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul."

as i learn & grow - eb & flow - try & fail - give & take, "droop" & "awake" through life,
i hope to adequately express acknowledgement that every good thing in my life has come from a god who knows me better than i know myself.
heavenly father certainly showed that to me when he gave me myron.
myron was the man for the job.
someone who has proved to be able to appreciate and share, and be patient with my personal journey.

and love me deeply,
even though i share too many personal feelings on the internet.
amen. ♥

documenting :: april 14-20

my sweet fam before church. ♥ myron was a saint and took them by himself so i could rest up some more. girls are wearing their beautiful new dresses from grandpa ron & kathy. :)

chloe was celebrated, yet again @ nama's on sunday. she recieved so many thoughtful, generous gifts.♥

this week was an emotional one. marathon bombs in boston. bad news all over. my heart was heavy. these flowers from ryan and nichole & other kind recovery-related deeds, texts and deliveries from family & friends helped me get through, but it was a hard one for sure.

flowers of my favorite hue, from my friend kaylene.

always love when this smile comes off the bus. :)

itching to do a few things around the house to make it more homey. first attempt. i like. :)

chloe loses her 7th tooth!!!

out with the old, in with the new.....time to plant my favorite!! zinnias!! :)

went with emily/one of my favorite girls ever to the postal service concert! seriously so good!!!
i loved it!!!

the girls' bed, full of big-eye stuffed animals. they are seriously obsessed. 

we had chloe's friend birthday party pretty belated, due to my surgery....but we did it! :)

happy colors/prepping for the party.

c is for chloe. :)

happy painters decorating their letters, dressed in garbage bags. :)

the finished product! i hope the girls had fun! i know chloe did. :)

and lastly, my funny husband, being funny.

documenting :: april 7-13

started the week off right with general conference. LOVE love love general conference. can't get enough of it & the peace it brings to my soul. :)

without fail general conference tradition :: biscuits and gravy.

notes ♥

it's always hard to choose, but i think bruce d. porter's talk was my favorite. loved sister dalton's too. and clayton's. and holland's. too many great ones too choose. ♥

we had a dixon family birthday celebration & granny surprised chloe with a doll & doll clothes for her birthday too! so special & perfect. ♥

pj party with their dolls. the girls are in love. :)

chloe on her birthday before school. she's looking so old and beautiful. love this 7 year old. something fierce.

livy and i went and had lunchtime in the cafeteria with the birthday girl & her buddies. ♥

does it get any cuter? i submit it does not.

liv found this picture & asked, "is this OUR dad???" lol. remember when myron dressed up as kip? that was funny.

after a really long day of working a double....i came home to this package sitting on the table. cousin dylan had sent 13 dollars shipping's worth of easter candy....that's a ton of candy, btw. he's the most thoughtful soul. love him so much. absolutely made my day/week/month.

myron looking adorable wearing one of gramps' old shirts. at the hospital, waiting for me to go into {{minor}} outpatient surgery to fix my broken body.

i basically spent the rest of the week in bed recovering while my family & friends spoiled me. i am so grateful. my mom took the kids for three days & cooked for me & i slept non-stop. such a blessing. i also watched lots of good chick flicks and glenn beck.

deb made me her stew. she knows it's my fave.

roses from my mom. ♥

after a few days in bed, i was kinda over it. thankfully i was feeling much better after i got lots of rest. :) three cheers for modern medicine. such a blessing and miracle. i saw the hand of the lord in my life this week for sure. :) and i learned i have the best coworkers a girl could ask for. i already knew that, but it was re-confirmed. :)

documenting :: march 31-april 6th

happy easter!! cutest kids....liv, chloe, baby weston & vaeh in matching dresses from aunt audrey. ♥

he lives!! such good news. ♥

love getting emails from my missionaries. and love that the rules changed so she can email me personally! love my sister dixon fixes. :) and when elder harper emails me too...it's double happy.

liv had her friend jane over to play. they both had "yellow hairs" which always pleases her greatly. :)

me & liv :: ready for the day. :)

i've cut back at work & i'm home a lot more at night with the girls. i love being home in the evenings. sometimes bedtime can be frustrating because they have a hard time winding down, but i try to remember how much i appreciate being home with them. reading scriptures, having prayers, and singing songs to them before bed is one of my greatest privileges & blessings. ♥

some love waiting for our hardworking daddy to take to work, because he has to go in at 2am.

liv picked a bazzillion oranges at granny's to juice. it took her a while & she enjoyed every second. :)

a typical day. creative messes are my life.

this happy patch of flowers lives on the corner of our street. it is so breathtakingly beautiful. i don't know my neighbor that grows them, but i sure appreciate the work he puts into his gorgeous yard...it lifts my spirits every spring.

we've been working more on our backyard. we'll get it looking decent, or die tryin. :)

more creative messes. forts are childhood heaven. :) i remember doing this.

conference weekend!! chloe's primary teachers brought her a fun packet to color and work on during the conference sessions. she was ALL over it. :)

the girls. our house. spring. some of my favorite things ever. :)